Forgetmenot's
by PolarBearMagus
Summary: Short story following Shigure and his first love, a girl who finds out the Sohma secret, but doesn't want to run away. Please R&R!
1. Meetings

A/N: I was inspired to write a story about...well...the second to last scene of this fic, which is written, but not yet posted, because I haven't written the earlier parts. So I came up with the rest of the story to explain this last scene, and soon you can enjoy all of it! Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or anything contained within, because sadly, I do not own brilliant ideas. P.S. This running into each other is kind of cliche, but I think Shigure likes cliche, so I kept it.

* * *

Kameko shifted her grip on her grocery bags. No matter how light they were, bags always managed to slip out of her hands as she walked. It didn't help that people kept shoving past her as if she wasn't there. 

She sighed in frustration. Weaving back and forth, trying to avoid CEOs and bicycles, was a dangerous business. Especially when the ground was still wet from the recent rainstorm.

A frantic mother slammed into her side, and she half-spun, half-tripped over the sidewalk and tumbled right into oncoming traffic. Specifically, into a very tall young man carrying a stack of papers.

"Oof!" she cried as she rammed into his chest. There was a "poof" sound and suddenly she was falling again, this time amidst a flurry of paper, and hit the sidewalk. Hard.

"Ow," she mumbled, her eyes tearing up. Her knees and arms felt scraped and bleeding. She heard the apples she had so carefully selected in the market rolling away under trampling feet.

Kameko scrambled to gather her fallen groceries, stuffing them haphazardly into her bags and trying not to get her hands stepped on. The papers, covered in scribbled handwriting, were left to their fate, collecting footprints and water-stains.

Surprised, she looked up to find their owner. He was gone. The man she had run into had disappeared.

Then her face and neck reddened. _He_ might have disappeared, but his clothes were still there.

Attempting to appear to passersby as though this always happened to her, she began to gather the clothes and papers too, cramming them into her already-full bags and hoping they wouldn't burst.

She looked around again. Now where…

Aha! she thought, spotting a narrow alley between two restaurants. If she suddenly found herself naked in the middle of a sidewalk, that's where she would hide. Although she couldn't see _why _he was naked. Had she hit him in just the right (or wrong) way to undo all these buttons?

She pushed her way over to the alley, being very careful not to rip the over-stuffed bags. The alley was constantly in shadow, so the walls were still damp and dirty puddles leaked over the ground. There were several large trashcans and trash bags piled up against the sides of the buildings, and there was a wall several dozen feet back. No escape.

"Hello?" she called. "I brought your clothes," she added, as if that made the situation perfectly alright. "You don't have to come out, just…wave or something."

The trash bag closest to her toppled over. It must have been unbalanced. There was no one near it.

"Okay," she said. "Then I have no choice to take your clothes and papers with me. You'll have to figure out where I live so you can pick them up, but at least you'll be able to find some clothes before then."

She sighed. There was no one here after all.

Kameko turned to leave. She heard a snuffling behind her, and she spun around slowly.

A large black dog was peering around one of the trashcans. It emerged from its hiding place and took a few steps toward her. Then it stopped. It was watching her very intently. Or maybe it was watching the food.

"Are you hungry?" she asked it, holding up a bag. She tried not to acknowledge a very suspicious idea.

The dog wagged its tail. Yes. It was the food.

"Okay," she said. "Let's go. I'll make us some lunch."

She walked out of the alley, and was only slightly amazed when the dog followed at her heels. If only she didn't get the feeling it was trying to look up her skirt…

* * *

Kameko didn't have any dog dishes, so she sacrificed one of her largest bowls. She knew dogs only ate meat, but she couldn't resist mixing in some vegetables. Maybe it could start dieting. 

She grinned as it scarfed down the lunch. Maybe she was a bad cook, like her brother said, but this dog seemed to like it.

"Not so fast," she warned, taking a bite of her own lunch. She was leaning against the kitchen cabinets so she could face her guest. Surely that was the polite thing to do. "You'll get cramps."

The dog wagged his tail again, but continued to eat quickly. She made a face at it, but either it didn't notice, or it didn't care.

Remembering something, she reached up to the table, where she'd left the bags sitting next to a vase of blue forget-me-not's, and dug out some of the papers. _That_ caught the dog's attention. It sat back, bowl completely clean, and whined.

"Oh relax," she told it. "If that guy's too lazy to rescue his own papers, I should at least be allowed the courtesy to look at them for a second._Just_ a second," she emphasized.

Not seeming entirely satisfied with this response, the dog set off to explore the rest of the apartment. It found her bedroom more quickly than she would have liked. "Please don't destroy anything," she grumbled, and settled down to read through the papers.

It was a novel. Some sort of mix between a drama and an adventure. One second turned into fifteen, and soon she was on the third chapter.

"This is quite good!" Kameko called to the dog.

She heard a faint "poof" from the direction of her room. Frowning, she climbed to her feet, snagged the bag with one hand, and cautiously approached the bedroom. She took a deep breath, then swung herself in front of the doorway.

The young man she had bumped into on the sidewalk was crouched on the other side of her bed, grinning sheepishly. Trying not to stare, she tossed the bag with the clothes at his head and ducked out of the room. She waited patiently for him to get dressed, vaguely wondering why she wasn't more upset about this whole thing, and whether it was smart of her to let a possible ax-murderer into her home.

He leaned out of her room, buttoning the top few buttons of his shirt. He was very cute, she noted, with short black hair that fell every which way, and she itched to push it back into place.

"So…" he said awkwardly, "you like my novel?"


	2. Discovery

"So…" Kameko summed up, "you and your family are cursed by the spirits of the Zodiac, and you turn into animals when you're hugged by the opposite sex?"

"We're also great fun at parties," the dog-man, Shigure, added.

She tried not to smile. They were back in her kitchen. She was sitting on one counter, he was leaning against the other. "It's a big secret," she said, thinking out loud. "Not something you'd want to tell a lot of people."

"Well, we _can_ tell them, we just have to erase their memories later."

Kameko had trouble absorbing this new information. Amazing considering what else she was processing. "Wait," she said. "No offense, but...why me? Why let yourself get caught if you're only going to erase my memory? Is this some sort of power play? Is this your sick idea of fun?!"

"Of course not," Shigure replied. "You offered me food. I never turn down food." Before she could reply he said seriously, "And _you _had to have known I wasn't just some stray."

She reddened and decided the floor was very interesting to look at.

"So we're both a little guilty," he observed. "The real question is: what now?"

Kameko looked up, startled. "What do you mean?"

"I don't think our meeting was entirely by accident. And after I ran into you -" he held up a hand to stop her protest "-after _I _ran into you, I decided that now would be the best time to let you know about the Jyuunishi. And we could take it from there. As you can imagine, I don't have the best luck meeting girls."

"But you don't know me," she argued.

"Who ever knows someone when they first meet?" He shrugged.

"You know what I mean," she said. "You didn't even know my name, how could you possibly know that I would…that I…"

"I didn't," he admitted. They locked eyes for a single moment.

"I also have no intention of erasing your memory unless you want me to."

Well that was encouraging.

"So now we come to a crossroads," he said grandly. "Everything will be decided by your answer to this question…" He paused for dramatic effect. "What did you think of my novel?"

She laughed, then realized he was serious. Or was he? It was a metaphor…or a simile, she could never keep them straight. But how she answered the question would decide whether this Shigure walked out her door forever. Did she want that?

Kameko regarded her forget-me-nots while she considered. It was certainly an interesting beginning to a relationship, no doubt about that. Shigure must have welcomed the opportunity to start out with the other person knowing about the curse. Why wasn't she more bothered by it? She was accepting it the way she would accept someone saying that they like to dye their hair wacky colors. Different, but not strange or repulsive.

She tried to imagine going back to her life before. Not memory-erased going back, just going back, knowing Shigure was out there and that she would never see him again.

And she couldn't. Her throat tightened, she couldn't breathe. She knew absolutely nothing about him and yet she couldn't go back to life without him. And if it couldn't be romantic, they could at least still be friends.

"I think…" she began, but her voice sounded weird and she had to start again. "I think it's an interesting idea, but I want to read a little further before passing any final judgment." There, that should do it.

Shigure seemed to think so too. "Excellent!" he said. "Then I shall call on you tomorrow, and you can read more then. Or I suppose we could go out to dinner, if you would rather do something that's actually fun."

"Sure, that sounds great." She smiled.

"Then it's settled. Well, actually, one more thing: what did you _really_ think of my novel?"

She shrugged. "It was okay."

"'Okay?'" he asked, and she could swear he was pouting.

She laughed. "Drama's fine, but it's nothing like a good romance," she said, deliberately teasing him.

He pulled a face, and she laughed again.

Oh yes, she decided. This was definitely going to be interesting.


	3. Turn

"Where are we going, Shigure?" Kameko asked, laughing. These last few weeks had been the happiest of her life, which was the last thing she had expected. But Shigure always knew the right thing to say to make her laugh, and she hadn't had many opportunities to do that lately.

"It's a secret," he said with that infuriating expression on his face.

"But I hate secrets!" she replied. She was just being contrary.

"Then you fell in love with the wrong person!"

She stopped in her tracks, genuinely shocked.

"Wha-?"

"Oh!" he cried in mock surprise. "Was I not supposed to say that out loud?"

Kameko quickly recovered. "No!" she told him as she caught up. "People will hear you and they might get the wrong impression." And she linked her arm through his.

"What people?" he asked with a sly grin.

With a start, she realized that they were no longer in the city. They were on a path in the middle of the woods. She was instantly suspicious and jabbed a finger in his face.

"Shigure, if this is some scheme of yours to get me to –"

"Oh look!" he cried. "We're home!"

Kameko looked where he pointed. There was a traditional wooden house, with porches and sliding screen doors, nestled perfectly in the middle of the woods. "You live _here_?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yup. Come have a look inside." It was the singsong voice of annoyance.

She slapped him, and he started fake crying. "Please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it…"

In answer, she grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the house.

Shigure leaned on one of the posts while she explored. "Ah!" he exclaimed. "How lovely my house looks with you in it. It's as if a beautiful flower has come to grace it with her presence."

"Don't make me slap you again," Kameko said with a grin. "How about some real flowers?" She pulled a bouquet of forget-me-nots out of her bag, placed them in a vase, and set it on the table.

Shigure looked between her and the flowers. "It's not the same!" he complained, but he had lost his audience.

"Ooh! Your office!"

"No wait!" But she was already sitting at his computer.

"A romance novel!" she cried in surprise, then shook her head at Shigure. "Tsk tsk. You are very sick in the head."

"Sick with the purest love," he said, right on cue. But his tone was ambiguous. She had no way of knowing whether he was mocking or sincere. Two could play at that game.

"Well, do they live happily ever after?" she asked, resting her elbows on the desk and her head on her folded hands, the picture of innocence.

"Of course."

Kameko would have given anything to stay like that forever, looking into Shigure's eyes and seeing the love he had for her and deciding to give her heart to him once and for all.

There was a very loud, obnoxious, and untimely knock on the door, and Kameko jumped.

"Shi-san!" shouted a very loud, obnoxious, and untimely voice.

"Ah yes," said Shigure, hand on his chin in mock-thought. "I may have forgotten to tell you that I invited my friends over to meet you."

"What?!"

She leaped out from behind the desk and frantically searched for a mirror. Typical bachelor, Shigure didn't have one. "I'm not ready! My hair's a mess, and I just threw on the closest outfit, it's not pressed or neat or anything and – "

Shigure grabbed her hands and she abruptly stopped talking.

"You are beautiful," he told her, no trace of mockery in his voice, eyes steady. She couldn't breathe, she was so overwhelmed with emotion.

She kissed him.

Now she would have given anything to stay like _this _forever, except –

Shigure transformed with a loud "poof".

"Shi-san, how cruel of you," whined the very loud, obnoxious, and _extremely_ untimely voice. "You left us waiting out in the cold. What would you have done if we had been frozen into huge Ayame and Ha-san icicles?"

Kameko looked up from the dog in front of her and found two young men standing in the doorway. The one in front had long silvery hair any girl would be jealous of and light green eyes that seemed to hide any true emotion. The other was slightly behind the first, with short dark hair and odd but piercing brown eyes. These must be Shigure's friends. And now here he was, a dog, with her still breathing raggedly from their first kiss. Did they know about the curse?!

She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but –

"Ah, Ayame-san, forgive me!" cried Shigure. "I would never abandon you!"

"I know!" the silver-haired man agreed. "Our love will never freeze, for it burns brighter every day!"

"YES!" they said together, the dog with a raised paw and the man a thumbs-up.

"Will you two stop that already?" asked the other man with over-tried patience. He must have noticed Kameko's expression because he told her, "You'll get used to it."

"Ah, Ha-san!" cried the first man. "We love –"

"No."

The silver-haired man paused.

"Ah, Kameko-san!" He clasped her hand.

"No!" snapped the dark-haired man and Shigure.

With another "poof", Shigure transformed back. Kameko carefully averted her eyes while he dressed. While he did so, he made introductions.

"This is Kameko. Kameko, these are my friends and cousins, Ayame and Hatori."

"Pleased to meet you," she said with a bow. Wait, cousins? "Oh!" she realized. "Are you part of the Jyuunishi?"

"Yes," said Hatori before Ayame could say anything.

"Which animals are you?"

"I am…the snake!" Ayame said grandly. He took her elbow and led her into the other room, gravely pronouncing the history and wisdom of the snake, which she felt he was mostly making up on the spot. It was quite impressive to see so much charisma in one person.

After a while he insisted on fetching her refreshments, and disappeared into the kitchen. Shigure and Hatori hadn't followed. They must have remained in his office, catching up or reminiscing on old times. She got up to ask them if they wanted a drink or snack, but as she approached the nearly shut door she heard Hatori saying, "-that she knows about the curse."

Were they talking about her?

"I trust her," Shigure replied, and Kameko felt a rush of gratitude to his sincerity. "I trust her more than I trust some of the other Sohmas. And I think I'm going crazy, Hatori," he added, his voice lowering. "I think I'm actually falling in love with her."

Kameko was too shocked to even breathe. Love her? Truly? It was so hard to tell what he was really thinking most of the time, but now, with his friend, he was being honest.

"Doe _he _know?" Hatori finally asked.

She knew a shadow had passed over Shigure's face, she could feel the cold through the door. "Akito doesn't have to know everything."

"But he'll find out. And it would be better coming from you."

"Better for who?" She could feel the twisted smile in her gut.

She couldn't take any more. Slipping away as silently as possible, she hoped Ayame hadn't returned from the kitchen and noticed her absence. He would have come looking for her surely, giving her away to the others with his loud, obnoxious, and untimely voice.

She turned the corner into the room and jumped. Ayame was standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed and eyes downcast, the artistically arranged tray of cookies and tea set on the table. He knew.

"I…" she began, needing to explain. "I just…"

Ayame came closer, looming over her, and she started to shake. In a fluid movement, he shut the screen door. He finally met her eyes.

"You should not have heard that," he said in a low voice; the former tones of pompousness and silliness were gone. This was Ayame at his most serious, and it scared her with its intensity.

"You should not have heard that," he repeated, "but I'm glad you did." Kameko was surprised to find that she wasn't being reprimanded, but congratulated. "Now you know what you're up against when it comes to the Sohmas."

She nodded in understanding. "Who is Akito?"

"The Head of the Family," Ayame told her. "He is very possessive of the Jyuunishi, and becomes very jealous when anyone threatens to take one of us away."

"I'm not taking Shigure away," Kameko protested. "I'm not even borrowing him. He's staying right here, as he always has."

Ayame smiled sadly. "Akito won't see it that way." He slid the door open again and laughed heartily. "I am sorry to keep you waiting, my dear Ka-san, but Shigure's kitchen is soo messy it took forever to find anything edible. If only he had a lovely wife to live here and keep this house looking as beautiful as her!"

Kameko picked up her tea and sipped it. She understood. The conversation was not over; it never happened. And Ayame's loud voice was perfect for carrying to the office, to explain why they had been quiet for so long.

Even more than that, it drew Shigure and Hatori out of their tete-a-tete, and they eagerly (or in Hatori's case, neutrally) took part in the cookies. They spent the rest of the afternoon happily, as if Kameko had known Ayame and Hatori for many years instead of only a few hours.

Shigure made a point of sitting as close to Kameko as possible, but she wasn't going to complain. She was going to figure out how to kiss him again without him transforming so that the moment really could last forever.


	4. Messages

Kameko turned the radio up and continued dancing, swinging her duster in circles. She was taking advantage of Shigure's meeting with his editor to clean her apartment. Knowing Shigure, it would take the greater part of the day before he took pity on his editor and stopped tormenting her. And while Kameko enjoyed watching the battle, she really needed to clean.

She was leaving town to be with her family on New Year's, the usual day set aside for cleaning house, so she had decided to do it early instead. Her family lived far away, so she hadn't seen them for a long time. She'd toyed with the idea of inviting Shigure along to meet them, but before she could make up her mind he told her that he would be at the Sohma House for the New Year.

_Oh well_, she thought as she started sweeping in time to the music. _That's that. Maybe next year…_

She polished the furniture and washed the windows. She scrubbed out the kitchen sink and bathroom. She had just started preparing lunch when someone knocked on the front door. Bemusedly thinking that if it was Ayame again she was going to immediately put him to work, she opened the door to find Shigure.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as he stepped in.

"That's a fine welcome," he complained half-heartedly.

"I just…I thought you were with your editor." They went to the kitchen and she continued cooking. "Shouldn't you be forcing her to walk the plank by now?"

"No, I just gave her the manuscript."

That shook her. No jokes, no teasing, and he hadn't even tried to torment his editor, one of his most favorite games.

Kameko held a hand to his forehead. No fever.

"I'm not sick," he said, leaning out of her reach until she put her hand down. "I've been to see Akito, the Head of the Sohmas."

Kameko shivered. She knew who Akito was, though Shigure didn't know she knew. And the name did not bode well.

"What did he say?" she asked.

Shigure smiled ruefully. "Akito doesn't like the idea. Of us," he clarified. "It would be better if you visited the Main House in person. Use your charm. We can go in a few days when things have had a chance to sink in."

So Akito knew. She couldn't tell if Shigure had been the one to tell him or if it had been someone else, but it sounded like he had. On the one hand, what happened to "Akito doesn't have to know everything?" On the other, she was glad he had made a clean breast of it.

"And if he still doesn't approve?" she asked carefully.

"I am not in the habit of obeying Akito's every whim," said Shigure. He took her hands. "And you shouldn't be either. Just come to the Main House with me, and I'll handle the rest."

She nodded. It sounded simple enough. Jealous Akito just had to get used to the idea that the Jyuunishi were not completely under his control. But if it was so simple, why was she so terrified?

"And now," said Shigure with his normal flourish. "I thought you could use some cheering up." He whipped out a bouquet of forget-me-nots. "Ta da! New flowers for a new year!" he declared.

Kameko grinned. "They're beautiful, thank you." She immediately put them in fresh water, and then they sat down to lunch. She was still scared of facing down the Head of the Sohmas, but she took comfort in knowing Shigure would be facing him down with her.

Halfway through lunch, the post arrived. Kameko quickly glanced through the bills and offers and then she stopped. A letter from Hatori.

"Ah, did you win something?" Shigure teased.

"No, it's nothing," she said, and returned to the table.

But as soon as Shigure left she dug out the letter and opened it. Hatori politely requested her to visit him at the Main House, but not to tell anyone that she was coming. She frowned and tapped the letter against the table. Hatori seemed pretty reserved, so it was unlikely that he wanted to confide in her.

Suddenly she connected the dots. Hatori didn't trust her, he'd said as much himself. Perhaps this was his way of making sure that she was trustworthy enough to keep the Sohma secret, with a private interrogation. This was much more difficult than the customary "are you good enough for my friend?" interrogations she had been through. But it needed to be done, or she'd never be accepted.

Grimly, she set the letter at her place at the table, next to the vase of forget-me-nots, and went back to cleaning for New Year's.


	5. Forget Me Nots

"Thank you for agreeing to see me on such short notice," said Hatori as he welcomed Kameko into his study.

"It's always a pleasure speaking with Shigure's friends," she replied, beaming. Before he could say anything she noticed the vase on his desk. "Ooh! Forget-me-not's!" She fingered the bright blue petals.

"You like them?"

Her smile softened. "I just like flowers."

When he remained silent, she turned, concern etched across her face. "Are you alright?" she asked. "You're not sick, are you?"

"No, nothing like that," he assured her.

They knelt on the soft cushions and he served her some tea. Kameko blew gently on the steaming liquid, the swirling of the tea trying to pull her thoughts into the same twisting pattern.

"I wanted to speak to you because…" Hatori faltered, and she looked up expectantly. He sounded so serious. Shouldn't he be happy? I must try to find a girl for him, she decided as she tried to sip her tea.

"You're happy with Shigure, aren't you?" he asked suddenly.

She started. The tea sloshed around in her cup. Perhaps Hatori wanted her to help him find someone after all. "Yes, very happy. Happier than I've been in my entire life, actually," she admitted. She smiled at the thought.

"Because there are some in the family…there are some who would not be happy to learn that Shigure – "

"To learn that Shigure _is _happy?" she finished. "Is that what this is about? Akito, and his," she struggled to find the word, "_obsession_ with controlling everyone around him?"

"It's not just that," Hatori began, setting down his tea.

"Yes it is!" she cried, slamming down her own cup. "Akito is miserable, so he wants everyone around him to be miserable, and when they're not, when _one_ person manages to escape, when _one _person manages to have a – "

"Don't say it," he snapped.

Kameko sank back into the depths of her cushion in shock. She looked at the rock garden just outside, the ceiling, the desk, the floor, anything that wasn't the man in front of her. She had been about to say "normal." What was wrong with her? The Sohmas _were _normal. But there was something about this house, this oppressive spirit that was slowly gripping her, choking her, twisting her mind.

"I'm sorry," he said. She could tell he meant it.

"As am I," she agreed. "It was good of you to warn me."

They sat there in silence for several minutes, the tea quickly growing cold, forgotten. No matter how hard she tried, she could not harness her thoughts.

"I heard you are visiting your family for New Year's," Hatori said. It sounded forced. But it was conversation.

"Yes," she said, latching onto it. "I can't wait to see them. I've missed them terribly." She smiled at the memory of the last letter she had received. "I have a new nephew. I suspect he'll grow up to be a bit of handful for his parents, my brother was always the plague of my family. Always getting into trouble."

Hatori nodded as if he cared about the history of her family. "What about you?" she asked. "Do you have any plans for the New Year?" _Aside from the Sohma family party_. The unspoken words carried so much weight and pain. When had she allowed the Sohma curse to drag her thoughts down like this?

"No, I don't have any plans," he answered. She knew what he didn't say, what he couldn't, without being disloyal to the family.

Then and there, Kameko decided to refuse to let this Akito ruin her life. She might not be able to control the family, but she could control herself. She and Shigure would lead their lives and be perfectly happy, without needing any help or permission from the Head of the Family. Shigure…Shigure would want it that way.

"You should come over this weekend," she suggested, instantly inspired. "We'll have a party of our own, just you, me, Shigure, and Ayame. Old friends having a few laughs, what do you say?" She smiled encouragingly.

Hatori frowned, and Kameko had just enough time to register the change when he placed his hand over her eyes.

The room flashed with a bright energy. A force, stronger than any push, reached her heart. Suddenly she was falling away, her fading eyes finding their last focus on the vase of blue forget-me-not's and then she forgot…


	6. Two Years Later

He waited in the doorway to the dragon's room. Outside it was bright and warm, but inside long shadows seeped into every corner, twisting even the most mundane objects into cursed monsters.

Hatori knelt by one of the closed windows. His hands were clenched in his lap, his one good eye staring at the floor. In the smallest of movements, he was shaking.

Shigure did not knock. He leaned against the wooden doorframe. His gaze never left the crumpled soul left in the middle of the room.

"I heard what happened," he told Hatori. The dragon did not look up, or even acknowledge his presence.

"I thought…there must be justice in the world, for you to do that." He laughed quietly. "That's horrible of me, isn't it? Justice. It wasn't justice."

Hatori still didn't move.

He turned to leave. His work was done.

No, there was still one more thing. He stepped back into the doorway.

"It wasn't justice," he said, watching the paper-screen wall, "because justice doesn't make me happy."

Without even a glance at Hatori, he left. _Now_ he was done.


End file.
